How Appropriate
by george's firework
Summary: Halloween One-shot for the Two Sides of Twilight monthly competition. Shows some of Jasper's time as a vampire soldier in Maria's army.


**Ok so this is my attempt at an entry for the Halloween contest in The Two Sides Of Twilight forum! Doubt it'll be very good but I'll give it a go anyway! This is the first competition I've entered on fanfic! By the way I made up the dates in this because I wasn't sure when Jasper left Maria and found Alice. It's not very Halloween-ish.**

**Jasper POV**

How appropriate. It's October 31st. Halloween. And I am surrounded by vampires. It's actually kind of like a giant party, if you take away all the fighting and limbs being torn off, and everyone has come as a vampire. Including myself.

Well we don't actually look like the vampires you would hear about in a horror story or see in an artist's impression. I find it rather funny actually seeing as we look nothing like those impressions at the moment. For now at least.

It's the year 1902 and I'm surrounded by the newborns that Maria wishes to be rid of. So it's time for my long and tedious job of destroying every single vampire past the year mark who is losing the strength their own blood gave to them.

Peter was beside me as usual, complaining under his breath as he tossed the pieces of the vampires I had torn up onto the fire beside us. Maria was out looking for new soldiers so we had been left in charge. I called the last newborn up and started my last job with gratitude. Peter sighed in relief as he threw the last piece onto the blazing fire.

"Thanks Peter." I mumbled and he nodded before disappearing off to who knows where. I felt the familiar burn flare up in my throat and decided that some hunting wouldn't hurt. I left the camp and headed towards the nearby city where my next meal lay, unaware of their impending fate.

Strange, I thought to myself as I prowled silently through the streets, not really paying attention to what I was doing or where I was going, I seem to be connecting everything to Halloween tonight.

My original mission on coming here had been to find a meal and then go back to camp but now I found myself relaxing slightly and watching the festivities going on around me with a slight air of amusement.

Everyone was in the mood for partying tonight and there was a large variety of costumes; the typical vampire, some witches, ghosts and even one tiny figure dressed in red impersonating a devil of some sort. I watched as guest after guest arrived at the house I had stopped in front of. There were several large pumpkins with carved faces and candles inside that were meant to be scary and someone had managed to make something resembling cobwebs.

Laughter and some quiet music spilled out of the house and I watched as a young man dressed as a vampire approached the small woman in the devil costume. She was sitting in a chair set apart from the rest and staring out of the window with her chin settled on her hand looking quite unhappy. I stole closer to the house and strained to hear as he bent his head closer and opened his mouth.

"Eliza you look so unhappy. Would you join me in a dance?" He asked softly and she sighed as she looked at him. She stood up and moved closer to the window, causing me to hug closer to the wall of the house in the fear that I might somehow be seen.

"I've already told you I'm not interested Brandon. We will be married but that is only because my parents wish it to be so. I refuse to be seen in public with somehow who I do not wish to be associated with." She turned her back on him, a dismissal if ever there was one, but somehow he didn't understand.

"We are to be married Liz. You'll be seen in public with me whether you wish it or not." His hand was on her waist now as his face and emotions became pleading, "You know I care only for you. Please dance with me." She sighed again, louder than before, as her emotions became irritated and turned around to face him.

"It is inappropriate for you to be touching me when we are not married. If you'll excuse me I require some fresh air." Her eyes dropped to the floor, not noticing the scowl that transformed the man's face. He did not remove his hand from her waist.

"We are to be married Liz." He said again though his voice was much colder now, "You will do as I say." I wanted to go in there and teach him how he should treat a lady. This was his fiancée he was talking to and even if it was an arranged marriage he should be treating her with respect. She glared up at him.

"I will not be controlled by a man." She spat as she forcefully removed his hand. "If you continue to harass me I will speak to my father and cancel the marriage. Do not mess with me Brandon or your family will find itself in an unpleasant situation! Now if you'll excuse me I'm leaving." She pushed past him and seconds later the door was thrown open. I took a step backwards, getting even closer to the wall of the house, and a twig snapped under my foot. The woman froze and I cursed under my breath for being so careless and letting my curiosity overtake me.

"Who's there?" She called and I attempted to melt into the shadows, knowing it was too late to run. "Show yourself!" She was starting to get edgy and I sighed before taking a deep breath and holding it in my lungs. Thankfully I didn't need to breathe.

"I'm sorry to have startled you ma'am." I stepped away from the shadows slowly and stopped, trying to make her see that I meant no harm. She speculated me with suspicion, waiting for me to explain why I was out here alone. "I was just taking a breath of fresh air. Are you leaving the party so soon?" I asked and she frowned.

"I don't remember seeing you in there. You're not wearing a costume either. Why should I believe anything you say?" She asked, stepping off the porch and onto the path, careful to stay away from me. Her instincts were probably screaming at her to run. "Who are you anyway? My family knows everyone here." She sounded offended that there was someone messing with her family's knowledge and I found myself wondering who her family were and if they really had as much influence as she made it seem.

"I'm Major Jasper Whitlock, previously a soldier in the Civil War." I had never liked giving true information about myself but we were close to my hometown and if her family was powerful she could find things out, so the truth was best. I would lie about the rest though "I wasn't actually invited to the party which is why I'm not in costume, I just came by to see if a friend of mine was here but it turns out he moved away up north. I believe you didn't answer my earlier question ma'am; are you leaving the party so soon? A young lady like you shouldn't be walking alone in a city at night. You never know what dangers may find you here." I gave her a slight bow as she sighed, still scrutinising me.

"Yes I was just about to leave. Not that it's any of your business but I had a fight with my fiancé and decided to leave. Are you offering to walk me home?" She seemed to have relaxed slightly. I, on the other hand, tensed at her question.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I need to leave as well and I'm afraid I don't know where you live. Allow me to fetch you a carriage." I had noticed several carriages beside the house, waiting to take the guests home, so I walked slowly around the side and up to the first small carriage drawn by a small brown horse.

"Excuse me sir." I called up to the man sitting at the reins. "This lady needs to get home and I'd rather she wasn't walking alone at this time. Could you please get her to her required destination?" I handed him some money and gestured to Eliza who had been standing watching our small exchange.

"Thank you Major. Will you be alright travelling by yourself? I'm sure it wouldn't take too long to get you home if you came with me." She seemed to have warmed up to me slightly and I shook my head, taking a small step backwards as I declined. "Are you sure? As you said there are dangers lurking in the city." I shook my head again and pulled my gloves from my pocket. I always kept them with me for any situations I may find myself in. After pulling them on I offered her my hand and helped her up into the carriage.

"I'm more than capable of dealing with danger but thank you for your concern. Enjoy your evening." I bowed slightly and then turned and walked away, breaking into a run the moment I hit the shadows.

My feet left no trace on the ground as I flew away, only stopping to drink quickly before running so far away from the city that I could no longer smell the blood of the many humans in there, hear the rhythm of their thumping hearts.

I slumped down on the ground and stared at my gloved hands. I had been careless, forgetting my mission of satisfying my thirst as I immersed myself in the trivial human worries. Useless.

Something was happening to me, something was changing within me.

Eventually I stood up again and headed back to camp, travelling much slower than I could have been. When I was within hearing range I stopped and listened carefully.

"Where is Jasper?!" Maria was shrieking loudly and from the sounds of it there was something big happening as there were lots of feet running around. "What do you mean you don't know where he is?! Find him!" She shrieked and I sighed before running into the camp. It was complete chaos, there were vampires everywhere both enemy and our own.

"Jasper!" Maria screamed, streaking over to me and slapping me. "Where the hell have you been?" I ducked as someone's arm went sailing over my head and gazed calmly at the vampire who had got me into all of this.

"If you really must know I went hunting." I replied coolly and she glared up at me, "Oh I'm sorry must I have your permission to go and satisfy my needs now?" My reply was sharp and sarcastic as she scrutinised me carefully.

"You were gone a long time. You don't look very satisfied. Your eyes are still dark." She retorted and it was my turn to scowl, damn the colour changing eyes. I decided to ignore her and focus on the more important matters at hand.

"That doesn't matter. What happened here?" I was more focused on the fires and fights going on around us than I was on Maria and she was getting annoyed because of that. She hit my arm, drawing my attention back to her.

"Lucy and Nettie decided to turn on me. They arrived about an hour ago." She said and then one of our older newborns came running up to us, clutching a piece of her arm close to her side as she attempted to block various blows from the vampires surrounding us. I didn't know her name but Maria liked her because she was strong and reliable so she had stayed longer then most. She looked strangely familiar and I wondered where I'd seen her before.

"They're losing fast Maria." She said in a breathless voice and Maria smirked victoriously. "We're a lot stronger than them but there are a few still fighting hard." She pressed the piece of arm to a gap in her shoulder and it healed instantly making her sigh with relief.

"Good." Maria said with contempt, "Have Lucy or Nettie been sighted anywhere?" She asked and the girl shook her head before turning and plunging back into the nearest fight. Maria turned and eyed me expectantly. I concentrated.

"They're standing on a small hill down by the river watching as their troops are destroyed. They plan on running soon." I was used to Nettie and Lucy's feelings by now so it was relatively easy to pick them out and pinpoint where they were. I found that if I was around someone for long enough their emotions felt different to me than that of anyone else's. Like Maria's always had an undercurrent of bitterness and spite. After learning this Maria had started trying to teach me to read deeper into the emotions I was feeling.

"They're not fighting?" She scoffed and I shook my head. "Well I guess if they're not going to come to the fight we'll have to take the fight to them." She smirked but I wasn't listening, suddenly immersed in memories.

"_Jazzy? Where are you going?" Missy came running up to me, her large eyes staring at me with confusion as she took in my uniform. She was covered in pumpkin muck as she had been sitting carving pumpkins with mother, getting ready for the small party we were having tonight._

"_Are you going to play soldiers?" She asked suddenly, her eyes lighting up and she beamed at me, one of her front teeth missing in her huge smile. I sighed internally as I thought about leaving my sweet four year old sister. She had been so excited when mother told her we were having a party and she immediately wanted to go shopping for a pretty dress._

"_Jasper." She whined when I didn't answer in a second, drawing out the first syllable of my name to make it longer. I smiled softly down at her and bent to ruffle her hair._

"_I'm just going into town for something. This is my costume for tonight." I hated lying to her but if I told her I was joining the army she would tell mother who would become very upset and guilt me into staying. I was leaving before dawn and I was actually planning to wear this to the party but I was actually going into town to drop my things off at the station. It would make sneaking out a lot easier if I didn't have a bag to trip over. I could be quite clumsy sometimes._

"_Oh. Ok!" She chirped brightly as a window opened upstairs and our old nurse's head popped out._

"_Missy! Come here so I can wash you and get you ready for tonight! You don't want to go to the party covered in pumpkin muck and dressed like that do you?" She paused, catching sight of me. "Jasper I'm going to assume that is your costume for the party tonight." I smiled and nodded gratefully at her. Nanny was the only one who really understood why I wanted to join the army._

"_Coming Nanny!" She called before giving me a hug and dashing into the house. I watched her scramble up the stairs to the front door and my heart sank. I would miss my family so much._

"_Jasper?" Mother appeared in the door and scrutinised me carefully, examining my uniform. "Why are you dressed as if you're going to war?" She asked sharply. "Jasper? Jasper?"_

"Jasper?! Would you please come to your senses? We have a fight to win!" Maria slapped me again and brought me out of my memories with a loud smack. I glared down at her smirking face. "Are you coming or not?" She asked loudly, her question not even a question. It was a demand.

I followed her quickly to the hill Lucy and Nettie were standing on and launched myself into the fight with less enthusiasm than Maria would have liked.

How appropriate. It's October 31st. Halloween. And I am surrounded by vampires.


End file.
